A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE IRISH TIMES and IRISH INDEPENDENT

Shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards
Shortlisted for Novel of the Year, Dalkey Literary Awards
Shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award

Luke O'Brien has left Dublin to live a quiet life on his family land on the bend of the River Sullane. Alone in his big house, he longs for a return to his family's heyday and turns to books for solace.

One morning a young woman arrives at his door and enters his life with profound consequences. Her presence presents him and his family with an almost impossible dilemma.

In a novel that pays glorious homage to Joyce, The River Capture tells of one man's descent into near madness, and the possibility of rescue. This is a novel about love, loyalty and the raging forces of nature. More than anything, it is a book about the life of the mind and the redemptive powers of art.

"One of the most surprising and original novels of 2019 . . . Exceptional . . . This is a sensory book that draws on the body to feed the mind" - * The Times *

"Elegantly written . . . Exquisite and impressionistic prose" - * Observer *

"A self-confessed homage to James Joyce . . . Costello writes insightfully" - * Sunday Times *

"Luminous . . . Unexpected . . . An audacious act of literary ventriloquism and one that Costello pulls off astonishingly successfully . . . Joyce devotees will discover much to enjoy in this clever homage, while fans of contemporary Irish literature will find a subtle, slightly melancholy, engrossing read" - * Guardian *

"A hypnotic read revealing how the ebb and flow of memory, family loyalty and love can disrupt the current of a life" - * Mail on Sunday *

"Powerful . . . The River Capture reminds us that everything is connected, that we are, as humans, not separate from the teeming world of nature around us . . . Lyrical" - * Financial Times *

"A virtuoso performance in catching the whole texture of a life" - * Sunday Times *

"The most beautiful new novel I read this year. A love letter to Joyce and Ulysses" - * Irish Times, Books of the Year *

"Costello's writing is truly beautiful and this book will hypnotise you from the first page to the last" - * Stylist *

"Profound, elegant, laced with lyricism . . . With all its intertextual richness, The River Capture is a fertile addition to the literary ecosystem" - * Times Literary Supplement *

"Mary Costello's audacious second novel, the successor to the Costa-shortlisted Academy Street, confirms her as one to watch . . . A homage to Joyce . . . Costello's characters have a persuasive, urgent life that leaves a lasting impression" - * Daily Mail *

"Adventurous in its ambitions . . . Beautifully crafted" - * Guardian *

"Bold, audacious, and beautiful" - * New Statesman *

"A Joycean love story awash with the past . . . Atmospheric. The mesmeric prose, like the river rendered is "something alive and benevolent"" - * Irish Times *

"One of the most intriguing works by an Irish writer since Mike McCormack's Solar Bones . . . Full of tenderness, beauty and some deeply affecting human introspection" - * Sunday Independent *

"Costello plays with the borders of psychological realism in this ruminative, dream-like novel, which sweeps up ideas about animal rights, the legacy of trauma, the fluidity of sexual experience and the purpose of art itself within the fragmenting, restlessly questioning perceptions of one man's gradual breakdown" - * Metro *

"A writer of extraordinary vision . . . Deeply absorbing" - * Irish Independent, Books of the Year *

"This ambitious new Irish novel sets out to follow in some daunting literary footsteps, and rewards the effort required to read it" - * Irish Independent *

"Sublime" - * Skinny *

"This is an extremely fine novel, one that needs to be read slowly so as to appreciate the small jewels of detail and not be overwhelmed by the stresses of another's mind so fully depicted . . . A brilliant as well as eye opening read" - * NB Magazine *